EXPERIENCE THE COLORS OF PUGLIA
TRAVEL WITH US TO SOUTHERN ITALY
OCTOBER 9TH - 18TH, 2026
connecting hand to land
Beneath the golden light of Southern Italy, we gather in the Baroque town of Nardo, Puglia to explore the living palette of the land. Over 9 days at an immaculately restored monastery—surrounded by ancient orchards, heritage plants, and whispering olive groves, we’ll create thirty-six colors from nine sacred plants, each a meditation on connection, place, and craft. Cara will lead you through 4 days of an immersive natural dye workshop with plenty of downtime for relaxation, exploration and more. This immersive retreat invites your hands and heart into harmony through natural dyeing, considered making, and shared communal experiences. From optional cooking classes and olive oil tastings to excursions through Lecce’s baroque streets, Ostuni’s whitewashed hills and the ceramic lovers paradise, Grottaglie.
Over four immersive days, you’ll work closely with Cara to explore the rhythm and alchemy of natural dyeing—from gathering inspiration among the monastery’s orchards to transforming local plants into radiant color. This beginner-friendly intensive guides you step by step through every stage of the process: preparing and mordanting fibers, understanding the chemistry of plant-based color, and creating a full palette from nine sacred Mediterranean plants—rosemary, pomegranate, bay, olive, chestnut, fig, mallow, oak, and wild fennel. We’ll also work with the natural materials of the land to expand our palette and surface designs, using lime and lemons to shift pH and reveal cosmic patterns, crafting a henna-based indigo vat enriched with local lime, and experimenting with the metals and rust tones that live in Puglia’s soil. By the end of the retreat, you’ll carry home a grounded understanding and complete toolbox of natural dye practices to continue connecting creativity with the spirit of place.
HIGHLIGHTS
TRIP DETAILS
Monastero dell’incoronata
From the women who created Masseria Potenti
YOUR ACCOMMODATIONS
STORY BEHIND THE MONASTERY
Each room has been carefully restored to preserve their sacred atmosphere. Guest rooms are located around the main cloister on the upper floor, while the refectory and professional kitchen allows for exceptional dining experiences.
Outside, two gardens flourish with medicinal, ancient, and rare plants, enhancing the sense of serenity and timeless beauty.
Nardò is a baroque jewel tucked into the Salento peninsula of southern Puglia, where sun-warmed stone piazzas open onto a maze of intimate lanes and hidden courtyards. At its heart is Piazza Salandra, often called one of the most beautiful baroque squares in southern Italy, framed by ornate palazzi, churches, and the striking Guglia dell’Immacolata at its center. Just beyond the square, visitors wander past the Acquaviva castle, centuries-old churches, and out toward the coast, where the protected coves and pine forests of Porto Selvaggio offer crystalline swimming spots and sunset views over the Ionian Sea.
YOUR STUDIO
Set in a restored Augustian Monastery, our dye studio will be set in both the orchards and dining halls.
We will work directly on the land as well as have ample space for our dyeing practice.
THE ITINERARY
Please note our itinerary might be subject to change as we are looking to partake in the rhythm of the south and move slowly through our workshop and prioritize rest and restoration. You are always welcome to take breaks and move at your own speed.
YOUR HOST
CARA MARIE PIAZZA
Cara is Natural Dyer and artisan who runs Calyx Studios, a multidisciplinary creative agency designing in collaboration with the natural world. Calyx offers natural dye applications for fashion, interior design and the arts. We create our conscious colors by only using natural dyestuffs such as botanicals, plant matter, minerals, non-toxic metals and food waste, transforming each project. Industry meets alchemy. By sharing this knowledge Cara believes we can help empower and heal with creative play.
She offers workshops and immersive natural dye experiences on the public and corporate scale, curating unique experiences merging healing, color resonance and art.
She is also the Creative Marketing Director for Botanical Colors.
GUEST TEACHER: SAMANTHA BLANCATO
Samantha Blancato is an Artist and Herbalist whose work revolves around the peoples medicine, ethnobotany, vernacular art, submerged histories, and folklore of the Mediterranean. She runs a small batch apothecary, The Land of Lila, where she grows and makes a full spectrum of plant medicine and focuses on producing seasonal apothecary boxes which weave together the various threads of her art and herbal practice. With familial roots across Southern Italy, Sam has spent years communing with the land and plants of the mezzogiorno and deeply enjoys being a liaison and sharing their stories with others.
Samantha will be leading us in our plant immersion as well as providing herbal gifts from her apothecary
Experience The Colors of Southern Italy
Experience The Colors of Southern Italy
A Natural Dye Immersion in Nardo, Puglia at Monastaro dell' ilcorronata
October 9th - 18th
QUESTIONS?
Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions you may have. We are happy to accommodate families, but each participant must pay for a full ticket if they want to participant in the workshop & the excursions. If family members would like to join for meals, they will incur a separate fee. Please reach out to info@caramariepiazza.com with all questions. We look forward to welcoming you on this trip.
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